Fiber-optic Cerenkov radiation sensor for proton therapy dosimetry.
Open Access
- 7 June 2012
- journal article
- Published by Optica Publishing Group in Optics Express
- Vol. 20 (13), 13907-13914
- https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.20.013907
Abstract
In proton therapy dosimetry, a fiber-optic radiation sensor incorporating a scintillator must undergo complicated correction processes due to the quenching effect of the scintillator. To overcome the drawbacks of the fiber-optic radiation sensor, we proposed an innovative method using the Cerenkov radiation generated in plastic optical fibers. In this study, we fabricated a fiber-optic Cerenkov radiation sensor without an organic scintillator to measure Cerenkov radiation induced by therapeutic proton beams. Bragg peaks and spread-out Bragg peaks of proton beams were measured using the fiber-optic Cerenkov radiation sensor and the results were compared with those of an ionization chamber and a fiber-optic radiation sensor incorporating an organic scintillator. From the results, we could obtain the Bragg peak and the spread-out Bragg peak of proton beams without quenching effects induced by the scintillator, and these results were in good agreement with those of the ionization chamber. We also measured the Cerenkov radiation generated from the fiber-optic Cerenkov radiation sensor as a function of the dose rate of the proton beam.Keywords
This publication has 21 references indexed in Scilit:
- SSPM based radiation sensing: Preliminary laboratory and clinical resultsRadiation Measurements, 2011
- A review of optical fibre radiation dosimetersSensor Review, 2008
- Real-time fibre optic radiation dosimeters for nuclear environment monitoring around thermonuclear reactorsFusion Engineering and Design, 2007
- Water‐equivalent dosimeter array for small‐field external beam radiotherapyMedical Physics, 2007
- Plastic scintillator investigations for relative dosimetry in proton-therapyNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 2000
- Polymer‐polymer miscibility study for plastic gradient index optical fiberPolymer Engineering & Science, 2000
- X-ray imaging and detection using plastic scintillating fibersNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 2000
- The response of plastic scintillator to protons and deuteronsNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 1996
- The light yield response of NE213 organic scintillators to charged particles resulting from neutron interactionsNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 1995
- Water-equivalent plastic scintillation detectors for high-energy beam dosimetry: I. Physical characteristics and theoretical considerationsPhysics in Medicine & Biology, 1992